Cotham Gardens Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education at Cotham Gardens. The school's expectations of pupils' achievement are low. The impact of the school's curriculum is weak.

Consequently, pupils are unprepared for the next stage of their education.

The support that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive to learn the curriculum is poor. The school has not done enough to identify and address these weaknesses over time.

This has been compounded further by turbulence in leadership and governance.

Pupils are happy and safe. They know that staff will help them if they have any worries.

Pupils' conduct arou...nd the school building is sensible and purposeful. However, the school's expectations of pupils' behaviour for learning are not high enough. Pupils experience disruption to their learning.

Staff do not apply the school's behaviour policy consistently well. Beyond the classroom, pupils socialise happily.

There are some opportunities for pupils to take on leadership responsibilities.

This helps them to develop confidence and responsibility. For example, pupils can become school councillors or classroom monitors. Some pupils develop their talents and interests through clubs, such as choir.

However, these opportunities are limited.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The curriculum is designed to identify what pupils will learn from the Reception Year through to Year 6. However, checks are not made in the way in which the curriculum is taught.

There is a lack of oversight about pupils' education. The recently strengthened trust board has begun to address this issue. The board is ensuring that the school is supported to monitor and check the implementation of the curriculum accurately.

However, as yet, the school does not know which areas of the curriculum are being delivered successfully or those aspects that require strengthening.

Pupils' gaps in learning are not routinely addressed. Their learning often consists of a series of disconnected lessons.

This does not help them to build securely on their previous knowledge or prepare them for what they will learn next. As a result, pupils do not progress well through the curriculum. Their achievement is weak.

Although the identification of the needs of pupils with SEND is timely, expectations of what these pupils should learn are low. They are not provided with the support that they need to learn all that they should. This means pupils with SEND do not achieve well enough.

The school has recently taken steps to prioritise reading. However, there is not a sufficiently sharp focus on ensuring that pupils acquire a wide vocabulary or communicate effectively. Pupils are not routinely provided with opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills of communication and language.

Children learn to read as soon as they start in the Reception Year. At this early stage, children read books that match the sounds that they know. They also develop a strong grounding in number and early mathematics.

However, the school has not ensured that all staff have the training they need to widen children's vocabulary. In addition, the curriculum in some other areas of learning is underdeveloped. Opportunities for children to learn new knowledge and skills are limited.

Consequently, children do not achieve as well as they could in readiness for their move into Year 1.

The books that pupils in key stage 1 read do not match the sounds they know well enough. Pupils who need to catch up do not receive effective support to overcome gaps in their phonics knowledge.

The broader reading curriculum has recently been updated. However, it is not adapted for the different needs of the pupils at the school. It does not take enough account of the gaps in pupils' reading knowledge.

Consequently, many pupils do not have the knowledge that they need to read fluently and with confidence.

There is a rigorous approach to securing pupils' attendance at school. Staff work closely with families and external agencies to gain an understanding of the causes of any absence.

This work has had a demonstrable impact. The behaviour policy has been strengthened. However, staff do not apply this policy consistently well.

In some lessons, the poor behaviour of some pupils sometimes interrupts the learning of others.

The school's provision for pupils' broader personal development lacks coherence. Although the curriculum is well designed, staff do not deliver it as they should.

Lessons are not ordered well enough to build pupils' knowledge securely over time. This means that pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they should be.

The school and those responsible for governance do not have the capacity to improve the quality of education that pupils receive.

Not enough has been done to ensure that the curriculum is delivered consistently well to meet pupils' needs. Recent changes within the trust board are in the early stages of bringing stability and a more strategic approach to planning and implementing the improvements that are required. This is beginning to lay the foundations on which to build.

However, currently the school is heavily reliant on external support to bring about change. While most staff enjoy working at the school, there is some dissatisfaction about the school's approach to managing their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school, including the trust, lacks the capacity to bring about the necessary changes to pupils' learning at the required pace. A lack of oversight has led to a decline in the quality of education that pupils receive. The school and the trust must strengthen leadership capacity at all levels so that improvements are rapid and sustainable.

• The school has not ensured that staff have the knowledge and expertise that they need to deliver curriculum content. This means that pupils do not build a secure body of knowledge over time. This leads to gaps in their knowledge that go unchecked.

As a result, pupils are not prepared for the next stage of their learning. The school must ensure that staff are well-informed and suitably guided to teach the agreed curriculum and to identify and remedy gaps in pupils' learning. ? Pupils with SEND do not receive the support that they need to learn all that they should.

Consequently, pupils with SEND do not achieve well enough. The school must ensure that staff are suitably equipped to enable pupils with SEND to learn the curriculum so that they achieve well in all aspects of school life. ? Some pupils in the early stages of learning to read do not get the support that they need to catch up.

The texts that they are given are sometimes too difficult for them to read. Beyond phonics, the reading curriculum is not designed to address pupils' gaps in knowledge. This prevents these pupils from becoming accurate, confident and fluent readers.

The school should ensure that the phonics programme and the reading curriculum are implemented fully to allow all pupils to succeed. ? The curriculum for some areas of learning in the early years does not enable children to achieve well. In addition, not enough is done to widen children's vocabulary and their communication and language skills.

Consequently, children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be. The school must ensure that staff have sufficient expertise to interact with children purposefully and deliver the curriculum for all areas of learning effectively. ? Staff do not follow the behaviour policy consistently well.

At times, some pupils do not behave as well as they should. This disrupts the learning of others. The school should ensure that staff implement the behaviour policy as intended.

• The personal development offer is not implemented as well as intended. This means that pupils do not build a secure body of knowledge over time. It leads to gaps in pupils' understanding and means they are not as well prepared as they should be for life in modern Britain.

The school must ensure that staff are suitably equipped to deliver the curriculums that promote pupils' personal development.HMCI strongly recommends that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.

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